Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 3794, John French, New York

SERVICE
NUMBER
New York
French, John
R. 3794
CONTENTS

the Year 1835
G. M. Davison Clerk in Chancery of the 4th Circuit of the state of New York, by N. Hill Dep. Clerk.
32876
John French
3794

State of New York } County of Washington } fs Town of Kingsbury }
Lydia Fuller being duly sworn Says that in the Month of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred John French the Father of this deponent had the misfortune of having his house burnt in the Town and County of Seneca and among and this deponent further saith that at the same time her Father's house was burnt his certificate and Soldiers discharge which he obtained for his services as a Soldier in the revolutionary war was also burnt and destroyed as this deponent very believes —
and this deponent further on her Oath says that the Chest in which she frequently had seen the Certificate and the said discharge was actually burnt and destroyed in the said house and further this deponent saith not to testify that the above oath or affidavit was taken before me in due form of law on the 19 th day of June 1832 at Kingsbury aforesaid
her Lydia X Fuller mark
John Maffei Judge of Washington County Courts
See the Clerks certificate endorsed by Vice Chancellor at bottom of Declaration

State of New York
Washington County, ss; I Jesse S. Leigh Clerk of the said County do certify that John Mose Esq. before whom the within affidavit purports to have been sworn was at the date of the same one of the Judges of the County Courts in and for the said County Commissioned & sworn and duly authorized to act as such Judge and that I am acquainted with the hand writing of the said Judge and truly believe his name subscribed to the said affidavit, is his proper hand writing & signature.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the seal of the said County this seventh day of July one thousand eight hundred and thirty two. J. S. Leigh C.S.C.

State of New York Saratoga County ss On this twenty fourth day of Feb- -ruary in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and thirty five personally appeared before the Honor- -able Elk Town Vice Chancellor of the fourth judi- cial Circuit of said State Sargeant John French a resident of the town & County of Saratoga and State of New York aged Eighty five years on the second day of March last who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress passed June 7 th 1832. That he enlisted in the Army of the United States as a Soldier and also entered the Service of the United States as a militiaman and served in the New York line and also in the State troops and Rangers in said State in the Companies Regiments and under the officers as hereinafter stated That his first Service as a Soldier in the United States Service was in the year 1775 under Captain O'Hara who commanded a Company in the Regi- ment of New York Militia commanded by Col- Cornelius Van Vliet and included the frontier set- tlers in the Territory now forming the North Parts of Saratoga & Washington Counties. That the App- licant was a Sargeant in said Company and in the Summer of 1775 marched under the command of Capt. O'Hara from Saratoga where the Applicant and the Captain resided to Forts George & Ticonderoga where the Applicant was stationed through the Summer and until after snow in the fall or Winter following. That Capt O'Hara left his men at Fort George and the Appli- cant understood that he afterwards commanded Washington's life guards. That in the Spring of 1776 Captain Samuel Norton took the command of the

company previously commanded by O'Hara and the applicant was in constant service as a Sergeant in said Company from the Spring of 1776 until Captain Norton's death by the small pox in the summer of 1777. That the country through which the applicant marched in 1776 and 1777 under Captain Norton was the Northern part of the State of New York now principally embraced in the counties of Warren Saratoga Washington, and his service consisted in guarding the frontier in repelling the incursions of British Indians and Tories and in manning Forts Edward, Anne, George and the Garrisons at Skeensborough, Palmentown, Saratoga & Ticonderoga. That upon the death of Captain Norton in the summer of 1777 his Company was commanded by Lieut. Benjamin Guyles under whom the applicant served the remainder of that year - being with the American Army at the Northern Forts and during its retreat to Van Schaick's Island upon the advance of Burgoyne and marched with the Army from Van Schaick's Island to Bemus' Heights in Saratoga and continued in service until after the surrender of Burgoyne. That he supposes and believes that a portion of the above service was as a Volunteer without quitting or losing his station or abandoning his company. That in the winter of 1777 & 78 he labored for a farmer and about the 1 st March 1778 went to Poughkeepsie and the same Spring enlisted as fourth Sergeant for six months under Capt. Conklin and received of him twenty five or thirty dollars bounty money. That he does not know whether Capt. Conklin belonged to the Regular United States Troops Rangers or State Troops nor can he tell the Regiment. But from that enlistment he continued uninterruptedly in the service of the United States as a Sergeant until the close of the war serving in different Companies - with the Continental Troops - in a company of Rangers - and also as Volunteer and received his discharge at West Point from Col. Van Klief - lands he believes. That the same summer he enlisted at

Poughkeepsie he marched to Fishkill, West Point, White Plains and into New Jersey and was in the battle at Monmouth in Genl Lee's division and remembers to have seen Genl Washington ride up to Genl Lee waving his sword in an impassioned manner. That in the summer of 1779 or about the time of Arnold's defection he was under the command of Genl Wayne and the scar on the ball of the thumb of the Applicant's left hand was occasioned by a bayonet wound in the assault upon Stony or Red Bank's Point and was inflicted by the Party detached from the British fleet. That after he received the bayonet wound and in 1779 or 80 he marched from West Point with a large detachment of the American Army to repel the incursions of the Indians and marched to the Delaware River - thence to Fort Stanwix from which place he marched under Capt Phillips to destroy the Enemy's boats on the Lake. That the second day after leaving the Fort the party was ambushed by the Indians and the officers & men were all killed or taken except Applicant and four soldiers who returned to the Fort. That in his retreat he was pursued by an Indian who threw his tommy hawk and inflicted the wound the mark of which is still to be observed on Applicant's skull. That he saved his life and secured his retreat by shooting the assailant. That he returned from Fort Stanwix with the Detachment to West Point & White Plains and the following campaign served in a Company of Rangers - marched again to Fort Stanwix and thence along the Frontier visiting all the Posts between that Fort and Lake Champlain. That he thinks he served as such Ranger on the Frontier in the years 1780 & 1781 and received his Discharge at West Point sometime after the capture of Cornwallis. Whether after his first Enlistment at Poughkeepsie he volunteered or enlisted during war or for three years or for several short periods Applicant

cannot distinctly "remember or declare." That about twenty years after the Peace Applicant's house in the town of Saratoga was burnt and with it his Discharge. That about thirty years ago John Thompson then a member of Congress from Saratoga apprised Applicant by letter that there was money coming to him from Congress and procured from Applicant a copy of his discharge and a Power of Attorney and subsequently paid him thirty Dollars which is all he has received since the war from the General or State Governments in money or Land. That he cannot state the names of other officers than those above named save the following viz Lieut. Doty - Capt. Sherwood - Capt. Mcbracken - Col. McCreas - Col. Van Rensselaer, Col. Livingston and Col. Van Schaick - Genl. Schuyler, Genl. Gates & Genl. Nixon and cannot with any degree of certainty distinguish with what character of troops he served otherwise than is exhibited in the above Declaration. And he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a Pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the Pension roll of the Agency of any State.
The Court Propounds to the Applicant the following Interrogatories and causes the same with his answer thereto to be embodied in this his Declaration.
Interrogatories 1 st Where & in what year were you born?
Answer - In Morristown New Jersey 2 nd March 1749
2 nd Have you any Record of your age; and if so where is it?
Answer - In my Family Bible
3 rd Where were you living when called into service; where have you lived since the Revolutionary War and where do you now live?
Answer - In Saratoga except 2 or 3 years at Lake George a few years past
4 th How where you called into service; were you drafted, did you volunteer or were you a substitute? And if a substitute for whom?
Answer - As a Militia man, - a Volunteer & Ranger and an Enlisted Soldier
5 th State the names of some of the Regular Officers who

were with the troops where you served; such Continental and militia Regiments as you can recollect and the general circumstances of your Service
Answer - Genl Washington, Genl Lee, Genl Gates, Genl Nixon, Genl Wayne, Genl Schuyler, Col Van Cortlandt, Livingston, Van Schaick, Van Rensselaer, McBrea, Van Vloten, Captain (afterwards Major) Sherwood, Captain (afterwards Col) McBrea, Captains O'Para, Norton, Conklin, Phillips, Lieut Doty & Guylys, some of whom were Regular & some militia officers. I recollect the Regiments commanded by the Colonels above named - my Service previous to the Battle of Burgoyne consisted in repelling incursions of Indians & Tories and in manning Forts & Garrison - I was at the Capture of Burrennyne in the Battle of Monmouth - Stony Point and in the Indian Expedition up the Delaware to Fort Stanwix & to Lake Ontario and in the latter expedition was wounded in the head by an Indian Tommy hawk and at Stony Point in the hand by a British bayonet - which wounds are attested by the scars shown to the Court - I served as Sergeant during the whole war except one Winter as above stated either as militia man, Volunteer - Ranger or Enlisted Soldier.
6 th Did you ever receive a Discharge from the Service and if so by whom was it given and what has become of it?
Answer I received a Discharge from the Service at West Point at the close of the War signed I believe by Col Van Cortlandt which was burnt with my house in Saratoga about thirty years ago - Previous to which John Thompson a member of Congress from this District took a copy of it and subsequently paid me thirty Dollars which he said he received from Government for back pay.
7 th State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood and who can testify to your character for veracity and their belief of your serving as a soldier of the Revolution.
Answer I am known to the old inhabitants of this neighborhood generally and state in particular the names of Rev Robert Washburn James Brisbin, Asa Welch Dr John H Steele, Benjamin Clements, Miles Beach, Daniel Finch, Gilbert Waring, Francis H Hinney.

And the said Applicant further Declares that he is enabled to prove by Deacon James Bristol resident of the town of Saratoga aged about Eighty eight years the facts that the applicant belonged to a company of Rangers in the Revolutionary War and by his eldest daughter Lydia Fuller of Washington County the existence and destruction of his Discharge as a Soldier in the Continental Army and has hereto annexed their affidavits instead of producing them in court by reason as well of the inconvenience & expense to him as of their bodily infirmities
John his X French mark
Sworn to and subscribed the day & year aforesaid
Nichs Hill Gd. Dep. Clerk in Chancery of the 4th Circuit.
We Robert Washburn a Surgeyman residing in the town of Northumberland in the county of Saratoga & Asa Welch residing in the town & county of Saratoga hereby certify that we are well acquainted with John French who has subscribed and sworn to the above Declaration; that we believe him to be Eighty Eighty four years of age or more; that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a Soldier of the Revolution and to have been wounded as above set forth and that we concur in that opinion and also certify that the scars now shown to us on his Scull and ball of the left hand attest in our opinion to the accuracy of the above Declaration
Robert Washburn Asa Welch
Sworn & subscribed the day & year aforesaid
Nichs Hill Gd. Dep. Clerk in Chancery of the 4th Circuit.
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above applicant was a revolutionary Soldier and served as he states. And the court further certifies that it

appears to him that Robert Washburn who has signed the preceding Certificate is a Clergyman resident in the town of Northumberland in the county of Saratoga and that Asa Welch who has also signed the same is a resident in the town & county of Saratoga, and is a credible person and that their statement is entitled to credit And I do Certify that I am acquainted with James Brisbin whom affidavit is hereto annexed and with Daniel Mory the Justice before whom the same was taken that said Brisbin is quite aged but a highly respectable & credible person I am also acquainted with Judge Moore before whom the the said affidavit of Lydia Fuller was taken and with Jesse S. Leigh late Clerk of the county of Washington whose certificate is thereon indorsed & seal of the county Court affixed and that the same is in my opinion genuine And I do further Certify that the scars which the applicant bears upon his person affords confirmatory evidence of the truth of his Declaration
E. Conner,
Vice Chancellor of the 4th. Circuit
N. York,

I Gideon M. Davison Clerk in Chan- cery of the 4th Circuit of the State of New York do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of John French for a pension.
In testimony Whereof I have here- unto set my hand and seal of office this 24th day of February in the Year 1835
G. M. Davison Clerk in Chancery of the 4th Circuit of the state of New York, by N. Hill Dep. Clerk.
32876 John French 3794

Mr James Busb Affidavit in behalf of Mr John Zunk

State of New York } County of Saratoga }
vs James Brisbin of Saratoga in said County being duly sworn makes oath and says that he is well acquainted with John French, and that the said John was in the service of the United States as a soldier according to the best of his belief in the Revolutionary War, and that he saw the said John doing service in said War in a company of Rangers as they were usually called according to the best of his recollection, and as he firmly believes
James Brisbin
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 27 th day of November 1834 }
Daniel Morgan Luster Dean
Saratoga County ss. I certify that I am well acquainted with James Brisbin the above deponent and that his testimony is entitled to full credit.
Saratoga November 27 th 1834.
Daniel Morgan Luster
See Chancellors Certificate to Declaration

Lyons. the 11 th 1866 N. Y.R.
Mr
Barret-
Sir
Will you have the kindness to inform me if One John French, a Revolutio nary - Soldier that applyed for pension about the year 1832, he died 1836, he never got an y return to his papers. His papers were forwarded from Town & County of Saratoga — By looking at the records for the above name John French you will oblige yours —
I suppose that John French volunteered from Jersey
David French son of the late John French Lyons Wayne County N.Y. Box 374

W. R. E.
Manh. Schuyler NY. Feb. 26, 52
N.Y. Oregon
4
L P E Edwards Esq. War Department Pension Office Wash. D.C.
John P. R. 16

Dr Sir,
Schuyler Co. 25 th Feby 1835
I enclose the Declaration of John French a Sergeant in the War of 1812. I find it impossible for these aged men to observe the minuteness of detail in their Declarations which the Regulations of the Department require. French was undoubtedly entitled to a Pension under the Law of 1812 but his subjection of poverty disabled him from searching out the necessary proof. I have elicited in a very lengthy & careful Examination all that he can swear to - his neighbourhood would unite in affirming implicit belief in the truth of his statements. Be pleased to communicate to me the fate of his application. I have transmitted to you a few weeks since a Supplemental Statement of Hugh Gruesbeck an ignorant but honest old farmer in this vicinity. He cannot be more explicit.
Very Respectfully
Yours &c
J. L. Edmunds Esq.
R. W. Livingston

Newton in Fairfield County Connecticut January 29 th 1838
To the Commissioner of Pensions Sir As application has been made during the current winter for the pension of John French a Revolutionary soldier, by James French a son of said John French, who resides in Benton Center Yates Co. N.Y. and as the said James, doth intend to withhold from some of the heirs and their share of said pension, more par- ticularly from the sons of Jesse French a brother some years deceased of the said James, You are hereby requested by Homer French one of the heirs of the said Jesse French to retain the money and land arising from said pension in your possession until

the Agent - a Mr Brown of Albany, - to be notified and also till you can be informed of the whole num- ber of heirs which will be forwarded to you as soon as it  they can be ascertained, as they nearly all reside in Western Ky. it will occupy a week or perhaps two to find out the whether any have died - unknown to this applicant.
I Homer French
Pr Atty.
by Fred R B Swift

John French N 4 - Nov 1832
No French in Com
John French Barnesville Washington Co.
32, 815
New York
Rev. -
John French
Sussex Ind
In Let to R M Livingston
March 21. 1835
to Hon David Russell
January 18. 1837
J. B. Swift Feb 27/55
D. French July 27 th 1866.
ack 7 th June 1832

Acts of July 14, 1862, and March 3, 1873.
P. O. _____
Service: _____
REJECTED
Enlisted: _____, 18 .
Discharged: _____, 18 .
Application filed: _____, 18 .
Alleges: _____
Re-enlisted: _____
Attorney: _____
P. O. _____
_____ Recognized. _____ Contract.
_____ Cert. of Dis. Searched for _____, 18 .

To The Commissioner of Pensions
In Sir, Regarding the Pension of John French Revolutionary soldier I have to say additional to what I wrote on the 29 th of January that there 8 heirs, of whom James French of Benton Yates Co. N.Y. Fanny French of Elmer, Chemung Co. Nancy Gates and Henry French of Garnetville Tioga Co. are seeking to obtain the whole Pen- sion excluding the other heirs - The children of Jesse French one of the heirs deceased, wish to be in- formed when the money is to be forwarded to the Agent and who the Agent is. They are in- formed that a Mr — Brown of Albany also Hon. Andrew Oliver Member Congress from Yates Co. are employed to get

It
Will you please forward the desired information to Fredk B Swift Attorney for J Homer French & others heirs of Children of Jesse French also the exact amount of Pension to be recieved
Truly Yours
Fredk B Swift Newtown Fairfield Co Conn.
February 20 th 1855